About Rebecca Richardson
Rebecca grew up in Paris, IL and attended the University of Illinois where she received her Bachelor of Science degree in Music Education and went on to complete her Masters Degree in Education and Organizational Leadership. She taught public school briefly, but found her niche in continuing education and training of adult learners which she continues to do today. Her career path has taken her where agriculture meets energy and still today she reviews public policy and works with regulatory agencies to help them understand how to implement rules and enforce policy.
Rebecca has three adult children and has built a life with her husband Verlin, a retired music teacher who taught most of his career in Champaign at every level – kindergarten through college! Today you will find him directing a brass choir of local artists who played for the love of music prior to COVID and will play again once it is behind us. The couple shares their home with three rescue dogs, Mina, Berlioz and Bo, who have provided wonderful comfort and now believe that they will never leave home again.
If asked, Rebecca will tell you with a loving smile on her face that her kids who all went through the Mahomet-Seymour schools are her greatest accomplishment! Her oldest, Adam and family live in Wentzville, MO and is an avid St. Louis sports fan(atic), cheering on the Blues, Cardinals and new franchise St. Louis City SC once soccer came to the Gateway City. Second son Drew lives in Urbana with Suzi, 2 cats and Vinny the rescue pup and works at UIUC’s McKinley Health Center. He has been heavily involved in helping with the COVID fight, and just recently received his second COVID-19 vaccine, much to his parents’ relief. Little sister Caitlin lives in Chicago and is a budding opera singer who managed to find a bill-paying job as a buying clerk for a large wholesale food supplier. She plans to audition again this season as performing arts venues open up again. In the meantime, she continues to build her language skills, particularly Spanish and continues to take voice lessons to stay “in shape” for auditions.
If you could change one thing about the last year what would you change?
If we had known at the very beginning of the pandemic a year ago that wearing a mask would definitively slow or stop the spread of the COVID-19 virus, I think many of us would have taken it more seriously and gotten it under control before it spread so far and wide. Many families lost loved ones, schools were halted, businesses were closed, jobs were lost and I think if we had not been confused about it from the beginning, we could have contained the virus much more effectively. So I would say I would have changed how news of the virus and the effectiveness of masks against spread was first shared.
Is there anything new you tried last year? How was your experience?
Yes. I had never Zoomed before last year. And boy did I do a lot of Zooming! This is a great example of how something terrible forced us to discover something that will now always offer another option for communication. So something good came out of something very bad. As a consultant, my job requires a lot of travel and meeting with people, so I am grateful to have the technology that allowed so many of us to continue our work remotely and connect, even in a different and more distant way with our family and friends.
How many languages do you speak? Would you learn another language if you had the chance? Which one?
Regrettably, I am only fluent in English. I have tried to learn Spanish but only speak a few words. I would love to learn at least one additional language, and love listening to the Romance languages – French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and Romanian. They are so rhythmic and graceful. I think people have an ear for languages similar to having an ear for music – it comes easier for some than others.\
What do you do in your free time?
During COVID, I have done a lot of reading, mostly non-fiction, and discovered I prefer reading only one book at a time. My favorite thing to do these days is to play virtual games with my kids since we haven’t been together much at all this past year. We like to play the online game Among Us as well as many of the jackbox.tv games while Zooming. It is almost as good as having them home (but not quite). Family Game Night is another good thing that evolved as a result of COVID, but when we get together for holidays, I’m sure we will go back to board games. For now, we decided to devote 2-3 hours every other Sunday evening to each other, and we all look forward to it and enjoy each other’s company.
If you can go back and change one thing about yourself/ life what would that be?
I really don’t think I would change anything. I love my life and my journey. If I changed something about it, who knows how that would impact the other parts? I am generally more of a “bird in the hand” type of person.
What’s your favorite movie/tv show/book?
Movie: Changing Lanes (2002 Movie with Ben Affleck and Sam Jackson) – an action thriller and a powerful lesson in morality
TV Show: Currently my favorite is Your Honor on Showtime – another action thriller morality story – (hmm. I just realized the pattern)
Book: Devil in the White City by Erik Larson – true story that reads like fiction – about the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893 and young women who were disappearing. Lots of local references make the book so relatable and hard to put down.
Have you been to any countries outside of the United States? If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live and why?
I am fortunate to have visited a number of countries outside the U.S., but I love living in the Midwestern part of the United States. I might live somewhere else during the extremes of seasons, but I would always consider Mahomet my home. It is a short drive to Chicago, Indy and St. Louis and next door to a world renowned university, and my husband and I are most at home in small towns. I also look forward to visiting more places when I retire. I believe a special kind of wisdom and acceptance occur when you experience other cultures.
How important is your culture to you?
I think culture is something we acquire that makes us comfortable. In the Midwest, our culture is known as one of friendly people, wide open spaces, Friday night high school football games, unpredictable and often extreme weather, simple and relatively low-cost lifestyles, independence and a strong work ethic. These things are all a part of who I am and what I’ve done. Culture can also inadvertently cause us to develop behaviors and attitudes that don’t necessarily play in our favor especially when we visit or move to another culture. For example, it is a learned cultural habit for Midwesterners to have a hard time saying goodbye. I’m frequently guilty of the 30-minute goodbye, which may be fine to another Midwesterner. But head to the east coast and people move quickly there. So as a Midwesterner, you feel like everyone around you is in fast-forward mode, and urban east-coasters impatiently make you feel like you’re stupid and slow. Another example of this is how much Midwesterners drive. People in other cultures do not have the luxury of driving everywhere like we do, but they don’t live, work and go to school miles away from each other. To sum it up, I think generally culture is important to everyone because it is their home base, but it can also create miscommunication and barriers that can be detrimental if we are not sensitive and understanding about others’ cultures as well.
To you, what is the meaning of life?
The meaning of life is uniquely defined from the beginning to the end for each individual. I have always loved the song, “Unwritten,” and the words explain my philosophy of life better than I can: “I am unwritten; can’t read my mind, I’m undefined. I’m just beginning; the pen’s in my hand, ending unplanned….Feel the rain on your skin. No one else can feel it for you. Only you can let it in. No one else can speak the words on your lips. Drench yourself in words unspoken. Live your life with arms wide open. Today is where your book begins. The rest is still unwritten.” In other words, every day is a new start and you can choose how you live it no matter your circumstances.
Have you done any kind of dangerous sports or adrenaline-pumping activities? What was it?
I used to love to play organized sports, and still love watching college football, basketball, volleyball, etc. I don’t know if you would characterize zip lining as a dangerous sport, but it definitely got my adrenaline pumping! I have never jumped off or out of anything. I don’t like the feeling of falling, but I’m considering trying a parachute jump. Not sure I’ll get past the “considering” part. But my future is unwritten, so we shall see.
